Tencent Holdings is a technology firm from Beijing. They have several gaming companies attached to them such as Riot and Epic games. In the most recent update of the Trump administration’s tussle with the Chinese government, the White House has decided to target Epic and Riot games.
CFIUS or The Committee on Foreign Investment in the US has asked Riot Games, Epic Games, several other gaming companies to report on how they handle American gamers’ personal data, as per Bloomberg. The Department Of Treasury chairs the CFIUS. League of Legends and Fortnite are just some of the games that face danger, as the Trump Administration led CFIUS, is inspecting the Tencent related gaming companies do their privacy protocols.
Neither the Riot Games nor the Epic Games producers commented on the issue. The CFIUS representatives refused to answer any questions as well.
Tencent Has Over 300 Investments In Various Gaming Companies Under Their Name
Back in 2011, Tencent acquired 93 percent of Riots Games for a whopping price of $400 million. Then, in 2015, the company bought Riots Games completely. Similarly, back in 2012, Tencent spent around $330 million on Epic Games to get 40 percent of its stake. Moreover, the company also has around a 5 percent stake in Call of Duty developers, Activision Blizzard.
Tencent is one of the biggest gaming enterprises in the world and has stakes at several major gaming companies. As per media sources, the Beijing Based Tencent has over 300 investments under its name.
As per Tencent’s second-quarter earnings reports, the company’s virtual gaming earnings, both overseas and domestic markets, increased by an impressive 40 percent. That means the company made 38,288,000 renminbi, in other words, $5.6 million. For the same quarter, Tencent made around $5.3 million from its smartphone online games. Meanwhile, their PC games brought them around $1.6 million. These reports have further concerned the Trump administration, as per sources.
Trump Administration’s Ongoing Battle With WeChat App
After diplomatic relations have gone sour between the Trump administration and the Chinese government, the US authorities have toughened up against all Chinese linked companies.
Tencent related Riot Games and Epic Games are just a few names in the list of companies that have found themselves under the Trump administration’s scrutiny. One of the continuing battles between the White House and the Chinese companies is the tussle over the WeChat app. WeChat app is also related to Tencent.
ByteDance has also been targeted by the White House as they are related to TikTok. Representatives from Oracle have commented that the company is planning on buying TikTok, but the deal is still to be approved by the Trump administration.
As of Thursday, Tencent fell by 2.4 percent in the American market due to the Trump administration’s growing scrutiny.
